With the emergence of AIDS, an insidious immunodeficient disease that occurs in humans caused most probably by an HIV retrovirus of simian origin, and commonly acquired by contact with blood and/or blood products from an infected individual, great concern has developed in the medical community over handling and sterilization of contaminated medical instruments. At present, as is commonly done, instruments used for invasive procedures by surgeons, dentists, nurses, and others of the medical profession are received or collected, typically by an individual who, during the last step of sterilizing the instruments in preparation for their next use, sorts the instruments in accordance with a particular protocol and sterilizes them in an autoclave which may utilize steam, dry heat, or a sterilizing toxic gas such as ethylene chloride. When the instruments are placed in the autoclave, they may be wrapped in a towel, placed in a disposable plastic bag and hermetically sealed, or, as is commonly done in hospitals, the instruments may be placed in paper bags or tubes constructed for the purpose of autoclaving instruments and simply taped shut.
In the instance where a number of instruments are assembled to form a kit for a particular application, such as a suture kit for repairing lacerations or cuts, the instruments may be packed together in a disposable plastic tray with a hermetically sealed plastic cover, with the tray containing the instruments being processed in an autoclave to effect sterilization of its contents. After the sterilization process is completed, the bags, trays, or other containers containing the instruments are removed from the autoclave, and, in the instance where they are to be used immediately, such as in a surgical or dental application, they are carried to the site of the procedure. If the instruments are stored for any length of time, they are placed in a relatively secure environment isolated from contaminating materials. When used, the containers are opened, the instruments removed, and the containers discarded.
One of the problems associated with these methods of preparation of instruments for sterilization is that the paper and plastic bags, even if the instruments are wrapped in gauze, are generally not durable enough to withstand the razor sharpness of scalpels and sharpened needle-like instruments, resulting in the bags being cut or punctured. Additionally, in the event the paper bags become wetted, as by condensation of steam in the autoclave, durability of the paper container is greatly decreased. Further, in a non-sterile environment, moisture can permeate the paper containers, carrying contaminants to the interior thereof and rendering instruments therein non-sterile. Further, the use of disposable bags greatly increases the quantity of medical waste and adds to medical costs inasmuch as the bags must be both procured and disposed of. Also, in the event where instruments are wrapped in towels to be sterilized, there is a possibility that they may be wrapped too tight or that too many instruments may be packed together, decreasing effectiveness of the sterilization process.
More importantly, while preparing the instruments for sterilization, the non-sterile instruments must be handled in order to place them in the aforementioned containers. Here, there is a distinct danger to the individual involved with the task of sterilizing the instruments of being accidentally pricked or cut by a contaminated sharpened instrument and possibly acquiring a communicable disease as a result.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a method and apparatus that affords greater protection to individuals who handle surgical instruments in the process of sterilizing such instruments while eliminating the necessity of using disposable, non-durable paper and plastic bags during sterilization thereof.